How the Fall River branding launch was paid for is in dispute, but it cost $1,500 for pins

Tuesday

Jun 6, 2017 at 10:24 AMJun 6, 2017 at 12:17 PM

Jo C. Goode Herald News Staff Reporter @jgoodeHN

FALL RIVER — A branding launch event on Feb. 1 carrying a price tag of nearly $10,000 was paid for by the Fall River Office of Economic Development at the request of Mayor Jasiel Correia II, with FROED Vice President Kenneth Fiola Jr. claiming the cost was offset by an increase in the agency’s Community Development Block Grant funding.

Fiola, with the permission of the FROED board, responded to a records request by The Herald News to provide any information involving costs, invoices, payments and funding sources associated with Mayor Jasiel Correia II’s more than $70,000 branding initiative, an effort he first announced in September 2016.

It was a similar records request made to the administration in early May, however, the documents provided by the law department did not include that information.

The Herald News learned that FROED was the source of the funding via a Facebook post by Correia.

Correia did not respond to a request for comment.

Fiola said he was approached by Correia about a week before the scheduled branding event and was asked if FROED “could pick up the cost.” Fiola said he responded that they could not since it was not in the budget and that FROED did not have any participation in the branding development.

“Jasiel said ‘what about increasing the community block grant,’” Fiola said.

With the additional $15,000 added to FROED’s $300,000 CDBG appropriation through the Community Development Authority, it allowed FROED to free up other money to pay the cost of the launch party, according to Fiola

An amended contract between FROED and CDA was signed and Fiola said he increased his CDA related work by $10,000.

CDA Executive Director Michael Dion rejects Fiola’s claim and provided a letter written by Fiola asking to amend the CDBG appropriation by $15,000 to offset additional time staff spent on CDA related work.

“The FRCDA received a request from FROED to do a budget transfer from one budget line item to another line item. His budget was not increased by $15,000,” according to Dion in a written statement.

CDBG funding under U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations cannot be used for costs of a community’s marketing or tourism programs.

FROED documents indicate the agreement with the administration was on their Feb. 1 meeting agenda, the same day as the launch. The meeting was canceled and unanimously approved by the FROED executive committee in March.

The Feb. 1 launch party in Government Center's atrium was presided over by Correia and well attended. A large banner was unfurled with the city’s new logo and slogan “Make It Here.”

A 45-second video with aerial shots of Fall River featuring the city’s manufacturing companies, restaurants and other attractions — including a cameo shot of the mayor, who narrated the piece at the same time. At the end of the launch, projectors lit up the four corners of city hall with the green and beige FR logo, which would be illuminated for days later.

Pins with the city’s new logo were worn by city staff in attendance and passed out to members of the audience.

Copies of invoices provided by FROED from Rick Simone, president of EGN Inc., the lead agency that developed the branding campaign, show cost rundowns that include over $5,000 for production services provided by Canton-based company High Output and $1,500 for 600 pins.

The rental for the projector for the exterior projection cost $1,300.

Emails indicate that City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros gave Fiola the authorization to pay Simone on Feb. 7.

Despite the splashy $10,000 launch, marketing the city with its new logo and video appears to have stalled. The administration has not introduced videos produced by Figmints, the company that produced the first promotional video and was under a $20,000 contract to create a total of four videos.

A promised summer event using the new branding as a centerpiece is not to be. The administration blames the City Council for reversing a vote to transfer $20,000 for the event. Originally the administration asked for the transfer to meet branding contract obligations.

The creation of a non-profit Tourism Council as a fundraising resource, which Correia described as “imminent” in November, has not yet been formed.

This is the latest conflict between the administration and FROED since Correia had attempted to intervene between the Redevelopment Authority and FROED, which is contracted to provide administrative services to the authority. Correia unsuccessfully argued that the contract should be broken.

FROED shot back with a public claim that the FBI and HUD investigators are investigating the mayor during an annual meeting.

Correia has since resigned from FROED’s executive board as the ex-officio chairman and begun the process of evicting FROED from their office on the sixth floor of Government Center.

Email Jo C. Goode at jgoode@heraldnews.com

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